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Fabric Scrap Project Idea: How to Turn Tiny Scraps Into a Laminate Pouch

And recycle your fabric scraps

By Mad For FabricPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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DIY laminate pouch using fabric scraps made by author

I love sewing and often end up with tiny fabric scraps that I hate to throw away to become trash in landfills. I'm always thinking up project ideas to use with fabric scraps. This laminate pouch using iron-on vinyl and fabric scraps turned out better than I imagined. I use mine for traveling to prevent my toiletries from spilling in my luggage but you can use it for any occasion. Today I'll be going over the materials needed and how to make a pouch of your own.

Tools and Materials

I used Thermoweb iron-on vinyl to iron over my fabric scraps for the pouch but you can use other iron-on vinyl brands if you can't find this one.

I have a Brother sewing machine and use this walking foot that helped immensely to evenly feed the slippery vinyl pieces through the machine. If you also sew with knit fabrics, this walking foot is also great to prevent the fabric from stretching as you sew.

I used Aleene’s No-Sew fabric glue to glue down the fabric scraps but you can also use any glue stick like this Scotch one to make sure the fabric scraps stay in place before using the iron-on vinyl.

Instructions

1. Start with a piece of fabric for your backing. Mark the area where you want to place your fabric scraps. I suggest a plain fabric piece that is a neutral color. This prevents any color that may show through if the pieces you're placing on top are a light color. Here I marked the seam allowances for my pouch so I wouldn’t glue pieces all the way to the edge. This reduces your seam allowance bulk when you turn the fabric inside out.

White fabric marked with the area where to glue fabric scraps

2. Use basting glue or glue stick to adhere your fabric scraps to your backing piece. You can try fusible web but I think it would make your fabric stiffer and with the vinyl on top it would make the fabric harder to turn inside out. Use fabric glue and start laying down your fabric scraps. I also tried glue stick but found the basting glue was more permanent so the pieces didn’t come off as easily.

Fabric scraps glued on backing fabric

3. When you’re done you’ll end up with a piece of backing fabric with a bunch of tiny pieces of scraps. Iron down the scraps to get out the wrinkles. You want the surface to be as flat as possible so the vinyl will adhere smoothly without any bumps. Cut your iron-on vinyl slightly smaller than your backing piece and iron on according to the instructions. If you're not sure how to use iron-on vinyl I suggest looking on YouTube for videos on how to apply to the fabric.

The completed front side of pouch glued with fabric scraps

4. You can glue down more scraps for the other side of your pouch or use a solid piece of fabric. I chose similar size fabric scrap pieces for the other side of the pouch to make the design consistent for both sides.

The completed back side of pouch glued with fabric scraps

5. I used a fabric scrap of Liberty London Betsy for the interior of my pouch. I opted to use french seams to make sure there were no raw edges on the inside of the pouch. Here is a picture of the interior before I turned the pouch right side out.

Interior of the completed laminate pouch before turning right side out

6. Turn the pouch right side out. Be gentle because you can cause tiny cracks in the vinyl when turning that can cause the vinyl to crack in the future with frequent use. Once you turn it right side out the vinyl might look a little wrinkled, but a quick iron on the vinyl should fix this.

I hope this gave you an idea of how to recycle your fabric scraps. Thanks for reading and happy fabric scrap sewing!

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About the Creator

Mad For Fabric

Sewist and fabric obsessed. Sharing my creative journey one story at a time. Blogging about my creations at www.madforfabric.com

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